Ford has been testing an approach that uses lights to indicate what the vehicle is doing and what it will do next as part of research into a communication interface that will help autonomous vehicles seamlessly integrate with other road users.

Ford has been testing an approach that uses lights to indicate what the vehicle is doing and what it will do next as part of research into a communication interface that will help autonomous vehicles seamlessly integrate with other road users.

To ensure testing was as realistic and natural as possible, the company created the 'Human Car Seat' installed inside a Transit Connect van. Designed to look like an autonomous vehicle, with the driver hidden in the seat, observers could more effectively gauge responses to a roof-mounted light bar that flashed white, purple and turquoise to indicate when the van was driving, about to pull forwards and giving way.

"Fundamentally, people need to trust autonomous vehicles and developing one universal visual means of communication is a key to that. Turning someone into a 'Human Car Seat' was one of those ideas when there was a bit of a pause and then the realisation that this was absolutely the best and most effective way of finding out what we needed to know," said Thorsten Warwel, Ford of Europe core lighting manager.

The latest testing, which complements research already carried out in the US, was conducted together with Chemnitz University of Technology, in Germany. Researchers expanded the tests to check the effectiveness of two other colours, in addition to white; a rooftop location, when the US tests had the lights placed on the top part of the windshield; and situations with further distance, showing the lights up to 500 metres away.

The tests concluded that 60% of 173 people surveyed after encountering the Transit Connect thought it was an autonomous vehicle. Together with the observed reactions of a further 1,600 people, turquoise – more noticeable than white and less easily confused with red than purple – was the preferred colour. There was also a high level of acceptance and trust in the signals, providing a basis from which researchers can further develop the visual language.

"Making eye contact is important – but our study showed that first and foremost road users look to see what a vehicle is doing. The next step is to look at how we can ensure the light signals are made clearer and more intuitive," said Dr Matthias Beggiato, Department of Psychology, at the university.

Trained 'Human Car Seat' drivers kept their eyes on the road through a false head rest and operated a special lever to indicate. An assistant, hidden in the back, also monitored the road as back-up.

In separate tests conducted by Ford together with the automotive lighting and electronics specialist Hella, researchers tested further locations for the lights, such as on the grille and headlamps, though no clear preference emerged.

With the goal of developing a purpose-built self-driving vehicle for deployment first in North America in 2021, Ford is working towards ensuring that people trust autonomous vehicles. Essential to this is the creation of an industry standard for communicating driving intent. The company is collaborating with several industry organisations, including the International Organisation for Standardisation and the Society of Automotive Engineers, and is calling on other automotive and technology companies to help create the required standard.

Ford, in partnership with Argo AI, recently became the first company to test autonomous vehicles in Washington D.C., building on testing already underway in Detroit, Pittsburgh and Miami. In China, the company is part of the Apollo programme offered by Baidu, China's top search engine operator, and is working with them to begin testing self-driving cars on designated roads in Beijing and other Chinese cities later this year.

Optimus Ride, a self-driving vehicle technology company, announced a partnership with Brookfield Properties to deploy a program for its self-driving vehicles at Halley Rise, a new $1.4 billion mixed-use development that will transform a 36-acre office park in Reston, Virginia into 3.5 million square feet of new housing, dynamic local retail, modern offices, public green spaces, and year-round cultural activations.

Optimus Ride, a self-driving vehicle technology company, announced a partnership with Brookfield Properties to deploy a program for its self-driving vehicles at Halley Rise, a new $1.4 billion mixed-use development that will transform a 36-acre office park in Reston, Virginia into 3.5 million square feet of new housing, dynamic local retail, modern offices, public green spaces, and year-round cultural activations.

Beginning in June 2019, Optimus Ride will provide tenants at buildings currently on the Halley Rise site with access to efficient self-driving mobility completely contained within the development site.

Dr. Ryan Chin, CEO and Co-founder of Optimus Ride, said: "We are pleased to announce our partnership with Brookfield, the world's leading real estate developer. We will deploy our self-driving system at Brookfield's Halley Rise location this summer to provide users with autonomous mobility access between office buildings as we continue to scale our business. In the future, we will advance our partnership by deploying our self-driving systems at additional Brookfield sites around the world."

With this deployment, tenants will be able to use Optimus Ride's reservation system and on-demand ride services. During the initial phase, a total of three self-driving vehicles will remain completely within the Halley Rise development site and transport tenants from their office buildings to parking lots at the site. An operations team on site will actively monitor the fleet service as well as provide maintenance, cleaning, charging and updating of the self-driving vehicle fleet.

Optimus Ride is committed to the goals of Vision Zero, a multi-national road traffic safety initiative that aims to achieve a road network with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic. Optimus Ride's vehicles are programmed to adhere to Vision Zero speeds.

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The next generation of Volkswagen Passat to offer partial automated driving

The 8th generation Passat will make its trade fair debut at the Geneva Motor Show. Pre-sales will start in the first countries in May. The market launch will take place in September (Germany).

The next generation of Volkswagen Passat to offer partial automated driving

The 8th generation Passat will make its trade fair debut at the Geneva Motor Show. Pre-sales will start in the first countries in May. The market launch will take place in September (Germany).

"Travel Assist" is celebrating its world premiere in the Passat. Making a parallel debut with saloon and estate versions, the Passat will be the first Volkswagen that is capable of partially automated driving at any speed (0 to 210 km/h) with this new IQ.DRIVE system.

IQ.DRIVE is the new umbrella brand for Volkswagen assistance systems. From now on, the technologies involved in autonomous driving will be bundled under the IQ.DRIVE label. An example is the new Travel Assist. Along with its assistance system, the Passat represents the most advanced version of IQ.DRIVE yet seen.

Capacitive steering wheel. Volkswagen builds on intuitive operation and technologies that function largely automatically. The new Passat will be the first Volkswagen worldwide with a capacitive steering wheel. It detects touch by the driver, providing an interactive interface to systems such as Travel Assist.

Emergency Steering Assist also sees its début in the Passat. The system improves safety during sudden evasive manoeuvres via braking intervention. In addition, the lane guidance with Lane Assist has been optimised with a new multifunction camera. The new IQ.LIGHT – LED matrix headlights also enhance safety and comfort.

The Passat will now be permanently online as the new Infotainment system also comes with an integrated online connectivity unit (OCU) complete with SIM card as standard. As well as improved navigation-related services with real-time information, this encompasses new technologies and offers, music streaming services, Internet radio, the use of updatable web app technology, natural voice control enriched with online content, the seamless use of online services provided by Volkswagen We, and future cloud-based portable vehicle settings. Smartphones (compatible Samsung models) also become a mobile key for opening and starting the Passat.

The new Passat GTE starts 2019 with a considerably extended electric range. It is now up capable of covering approximately 55 km in the new WLTP cycle, corresponding to around 70 km according to the NEDC. As before, the Passat GTE can be temporarily used as a zero emission vehicle and is not currently liable for road tolls in major cities such as London.

UK Government lays strategy for advanced trials for autonomous vehicles

In a strong signal of support for the UK automotive and technology industries, the government has announced that a process is being developed to support the advanced trials of automated vehicles. Advanced trials will not be supported unless they have passed rigorous safety assessments.

UK Government lays strategy for advanced trials for autonomous vehicles

In a strong signal of support for the UK automotive and technology industries, the government has announced that a process is being developed to support the advanced trials of automated vehicles. Advanced trials will not be supported unless they have passed rigorous safety assessments.

In response to feedback from industry, the government has also announced that its world leading code of practice for testing automated vehicles will be strengthened further to set even clearer expectations for safe and responsible trials.

The news reinforces the UK's status as a global leader in the safe and responsible testing of automated vehicles. With the UK's market for connected and automated vehicles estimated to be worth £52 billion ($67.08 billion) by 2035, this is a major boost to a sector open to investment from the world's brightest transport technology companies. It also demonstrates that the government is on track to meet its commitment to have fully self-driving vehicles on UK roads by 2021, as part of the government's modern Industrial Strategy.

Jesse Norman, Future of Mobility Minister, said: "Thanks to the UK's world class research base, this country is in the vanguard of the development of new transport technologies, including automation. The government is supporting the safe, transparent trialling of this pioneering technology, which could transform the way we travel."

Richard Harrington, Automotive Minister, said: "The UK has a rich heritage in automotive development and manufacturing, with automated and electric vehicles set to transform the way we all live our lives. We want to ensure through the Industrial Strategy Future of Mobility Grand Challenge that we build on this success and strength to ensure we are home to development and manufacture of the next generation of vehicles."

The 'code of practice', first published in 2015, makes clear that automated vehicle trials are possible on any UK road provided they are compliant with UK law – including testing with a remote driver. The update to the code acknowledges the growing desire of industry to conduct more advanced trials, and a process to handle such trials on public roads is now being developed.

Under the strengthened code, those carrying out trials for automated vehicles will be expected to publish safety information, trial performance reports and to carry out risks assessments before conducting a trial. Trialling organisations are also expected to inform the relevant authorities, emergency services, and anyone who might be affected by trial activity.

11-12 June 2019Coventry, United Kingdom

Ridecell expands leadership team with two new executive hires

Ridecell Inc., a carsharing, ridesharing and autonomous ridehailing platform for new mobility operators, announced two new additions to its executive team. Fernando Ruarte has been appointed Vice President of Engineering, managing global teams developing Ridecell customer and mobility platforms. Gelena Sachs was named Vice President of People, responsible for the strategic direction of all aspects of people management, including talent acquisition, training and development, performance management, organisational analytics and workforce planning.

Ridecell expands leadership team with two new executive hires

Ridecell Inc., a carsharing, ridesharing and autonomous ridehailing platform for new mobility operators, announced two new additions to its executive team. Fernando Ruarte has been appointed Vice President of Engineering, managing global teams developing Ridecell customer and mobility platforms. Gelena Sachs was named Vice President of People, responsible for the strategic direction of all aspects of people management, including talent acquisition, training and development, performance management, organisational analytics and workforce planning.

Fernando brings more than 20 years of engineering management experience as a CTO and senior engineering executive to Ridecell. With a track record of implementing complex cloud computing and big data projects for enterprise companies such as Mode Media Corporation, Extended Systems, Inc., Oracle Corporation and the French government, Fernando has built, grown and managed development teams of several hundred engineers on three continents.

Fernando started his enterprise software career while studying at Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires and is a joint inventor of multiple patents covering online processing and geo-database technologies.

Gelena has over 15 years of expansive Human Resources and organisational effectiveness experience, managing HR at both start-ups and large established enterprises, including Clorox, Riverbed Technology, Illumina, Stitch Fix, Udemy and Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway Company. She has a deep passion for fostering an exceptional culture and employee experience. Her leadership accomplishments include employing advanced people analytics to transform organisational structures and implement high-performing people-centric employee programs. Gelena holds a degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

"With our recently closed Series B round, Ridecell is accelerating the development of our mobility and operations platform to support use cases ranging from carsharing to autonomous ridehailing. Fernando and Gelena each bring years of industry experience and deep technical expertise, which make them invaluable additions to our management team," said Aarjav Trivedi, CEO of Ridecell. "They are highly seasoned team leaders that will help us grow our global organisation, and help our people maintain focus on achieving results for Ridecell customers."

Metamoto, Inc., a provider of cloud-based automated vehicle (AV) simulation solutions, announced that it has partnered with AutonomouStuff, a leader in advancing robotics and autonomy systems, to expand access to Metamoto’s AV simulation platform, Simulation as a Service.

Metamoto, Inc., a provider of cloud-based automated vehicle (AV) simulation solutions, announced that it has partnered with AutonomouStuff, a leader in advancing robotics and autonomy systems, to expand access to Metamoto’s AV simulation platform, Simulation as a Service.

AutonomouStuff will offer subscription service packages of Simulation as a Service to its customers, bringing Metamoto's technology to OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers and sensor manufacturers that would benefit from a means to train, test, debug and validate automated vehicles and technology safely in the virtual world before it hits public roads.

Metamoto's Simulation as a Service is cloud-based, massively scalable and available now to any stakeholder in the mobility ecosystem. Metamoto's offering is designed to easily integrate into existing software development processes and is significantly faster than legacy simulation tools. By partnering with AutonomouStuff, Metamoto gains access to a wider network and customer pipeline to boost sales and marketing efforts while helping others achieve autonomy.

"Partnering with AutonomouStuff brings our cloud-based simulation solution, including our unrivaled cloud-based test and validation tools, to those in the mobility ecosystem who would benefit from it the most," said Chad Partridge, CEO of Metamoto. "AutonomouStuff's established relationships and global presence provide Metamoto with an invaluable sales channel as we continue to grow our business and enhance our offering. In addition, this partnership furthers our shared goal of enabling the future of autonomy."

AutonomouStuff is a one-stop-shop for companies in the market for a self-driving car – it purchases all of the necessary components through its hardware and software partners, and it assembles AVs for customers. Metamoto will be creating virtual replicas (vehicle simulation models) of the self-driving cars that AutonomouStuff customers can purchase and including them in the Simulation as a Service platform. This will allow AutonomouStuff customers to test their vehicles in simulation without physically altering their AV for testing purposes in the real world, as well as compare test results from virtual and real world scenarios.

"Simulation is a key technology to enable safe and reliable development and deployment of automated vehicles," said Bobby Hambrick, founder and CEO of AutonomouStuff. "Metamoto is reinventing the way simulation product solutions are used for automated technology testing and we are excited to extend the benefits of its offering to our customers. The path to autonomy is complex and we pride ourselves in our ability to provide the most cutting-edge software, hardware and data intelligence solutions in the industry to help make our customers successful. This collaboration will provide our customers, and anyone with AV simulation needs, a significant edge in the race to autonomy."

This announcement comes on the heels of Metamoto's recent partnership with VectorZero, which enhanced Metamoto's Simulation as a Service offering by allowing users to create virtual scenes at speeds of up to 10 times faster than previous methods and focus testing on the most critical situations, scenarios and edge cases.

"With proprietary deep learning algorithms and a custom acceleration architecture, FABU is revolutionising intelligent information processing with an enormous improvement in energy efficiency and performance," said Hang Nguyen, Chief Technology Officer at FABU America, a Research and Development Division of FABU. "Our ADAS and autonomous vehicle chip uses Synopsys' portfolio of AI and automotive-ready DesignWare IP to help us integrate intelligent functionality into our SoC and accelerate the path to achieving system-level ISO 26262 compliance."

"The new era of AI SoCs being used in applications such as automotive and cloud computing requires a wide range of IP to address diverse processing, memory, connectivity, and security needs," said John Koeter, Vice President of Marketing for IP at Synopsys. "Synopsys is working with leading providers of AI SoCs, such as FABU, across all market segments to lower integration risk and accelerate time-to-market for the next generation of intelligent systems."

RH Electronics invests $1 million in Foresight

Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd., an automotive vision systems maker, announced that it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for manufacturing and engineering consulting services, and an investment agreement with RH Electronics Ltd.

RH Electronics invests $1 million in Foresight

Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd., an automotive vision systems maker, announced that it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for manufacturing and engineering consulting services, and an investment agreement with RH Electronics Ltd.

According to the agreement, RH, a primary contractor in the manufacturing and assembly of electronic systems, will invest in Foresight, while Foresight will retain RH's services for a multi-phase project to develop FPGA and ASIC solutions for Foresight's QuadSight vision system.

Under the investment agreement, RH will purchase approximately 1% of Foresight's issued and outstanding share capital for a total consideration of $1,000,000 at a price per ADS of approximately $4.08 (reflecting the price of NIS 3.00 per ordinary share), representing a 133% premium over the share market price on Nasdaq and TASE as of January 28, 2019. The closing of the investment agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected at the beginning of February 2019.

"This is an important transaction for Foresight which will help us to achieve our technological goals and expand our development. We aim to integrate our technology into semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles, and I believe these agreements are a significant step toward reaching this goal," said Haim Siboni, CEO of Foresight. "In addition, RH's investment in Foresight at a high premium over the market price represents a significant display of confidence in the company and its technology, making RH an ideal partner for Foresight's vision."

"This collaboration with Foresight is of strategic importance to us," said Yacov Rozenberg, Chairman of the Board of RH. "We expect that our alliance with Foresight will contribute to the growth of RH, and this investment in the company will be our initial foothold in the automotive industry."

The FPGA-board platform offers substantial performance and cost benefits for long-term mass production in comparison with other off-the-shelf alternatives such as CPU boards. Pursuant to the agreement, RH will provide a proof of concept for an FPGA-board platform by the end of 2019.

Foresight has also retained RH's manufacturing services under a separate MoU. The MoU covers the relationship between the parties for non-mass production of QuadSight system units if requested by Foresight.

RTD deploys EasyMile’s autonomous shuttle in Denver

The first on-road deployment of an autonomous vehicle (AV) shuttle in both Denver and the State of Colorado was undertaken by Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD). The EasyMile 100% electric, autonomous shuttle made its debut and will continue operating for the next six months.

RTD deploys EasyMile’s autonomous shuttle in Denver

The first on-road deployment of an autonomous vehicle (AV) shuttle in both Denver and the State of Colorado was undertaken by Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD). The EasyMile 100% electric, autonomous shuttle made its debut and will continue operating for the next six months.

The self-driving shuttle will connect passengers from the 61st and Peña commuter rail station to the Panasonic and EasyMile offices and to the 61st and Peña Park-n-Ride lot via four stops. Mayor Michael B. Hancock joined representatives from the Regional Transportation District (RTD), EasyMile, Panasonic, Transdev, and L.C. Fulenwider, Inc. for a ribbon cutting and ride aboard the unit.

Transdev will operate the EasyMile autonomous shuttle for the Denver RTD in a new route called 61AV, serving people who park and live near the 61st and Peña commuter rail station free of charge. The project's main goal is to assess the viability of autonomous services in providing first and last mile connections to and from transit.

The shuttle will run a predetermined route Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., making a complete loop every 15 minutes. Although it will not have a driver, an ambassador will be on the shuttle at all times to help answer questions and ensure safety for the passengers and operations. Transdev, will also provide the ambassador for the RTD service. Partners in this AV demonstration project believe autonomous shuttle services will transform local communities and become an integral part of how communities are designed in the future.

The EasyMile shuttle will be programmed to make designated stops along predetermined routes. It runs an average speed of 12-15 miles per hour and can carry up to 12 passengers. This autonomous vehicle demonstration project is approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the newly formed Colorado Autonomous Vehicle Task Force for six months of operations.

"We're excited to see how driverless technology will work in Denver and to embrace new, innovative and better mobility options to move more people and improve travel for residents and visitors alike," said Mayor Hancock.

Data collected on usage and operability will be shared between project partners to improve future deployments and bring autonomous services into wider usage.